French Open: Dominic Thiem and the possible path to his first Grand Slam title
"I watch from game to game." Every sports enthusiast has heard this sentence at least once in their life. Tennisnet.com dares to disregard this credo and takes a closer look at Dominic Thiem's draw at the French Open.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: May 24, 2019, 11:14 am
1st round: Tommy Paul
With Tommy Paul, Dominic Thiem did a very rewarding first round task. The world ranking-136. is only in the main competition of the French Open thanks to a wildcard from the organizer and could not celebrate a single win in the main draw of an ATP event this season.
Since the beginning of April, the 22-year-old has been hanging around on the clay courts of the world, Paul already failed in qualifying in Houston and Geneva. The American was able to fill up with confidence by winning the tournament at the Challenger tournament in Sarasota, a week later Paul lost in the final in Tallahassee. In normal gameplay, Dominic Thiem should not burn anything in the first duel of the two.
2nd round: Alexander Bublik / Qualifier
In the second round, Thiem would either meet Alexander Bublik or a qualifier. The Russian has been waiting for a win for three tournaments and, like Paul, is considered a hard court specialist. Accordingly, the Austrian should be in Paris against the world ranking 90. enforce easily.
In a duel with a qualifier, the 25-year-old would probably face a little more danger. His opponent would have collected four victories at this point and would therefore go into the game full of confidence. Anything other than a clear three-sentence success Thiem would also be a surprise in the second round.
3rd round: Kyle Edmund / Pablo Cuevas / Jeremy Chardy
With Kyle Edmund, the first seeded player could wait in the third round. The only duel so far was clear for Thiem in 2017 in Barcelona. The Brit feels very comfortable on ashes, has an excellent forehand and last year brought Fabio Fognini to the brink of defeat at the Stade de Roland Garros. However, Edmund won only one match on clay this season.
Pablo Cuevas defeated Dominic Thiem in four close sets at the 2015 French Open. Since then, however, the Austrian has improved in all respects - a sentence that the Uruguayan cannot really say. Thiem leads 3: 2 in the head to head. Among them is a victory this year in Buenos Aires.
Traditionally, the French are in top form in Paris. With Jeremy Chardy, Thiem could also face an unpleasant task due to the home advantage in the third round. With its powerful spin, however, the Lichtenwörther has just the right weapon to handle the 32-year-old's vulnerable backhand. The only meeting so far was won by Thiem in 2017 in Indian Wells with 6: 2 and 6: 4.
Round of 16: Fernando Verdasco / Gael Monfils
Only at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome did Fernando Verdasco prove impressively why he is one of Thiem's absolute fear opponents. In a competitive match, the Spaniard beat the 25-year-old in three sets and increased to 4-0 in the head to head . In Roland Garros, the Austrian would go into the game as a favorite due to the excellent results in the past three years, but enthusiasm will certainly not have triggered a possible round of 16 final with the Spaniard at Team Thiem.
Nicolas Massu and Co. should not have been too pleased with Gael Monfils. The Frenchman often plays strong tennis in Roland Garros, reached the semi-finals in 2008 and knows better than anyone how to get his countrymen involved. In principle, the Austrian ranks the game of World Ranking 16. however: Thiem leads 4: 0 in direct comparison.
Quarter-finals: Juan Martin del Potro / Karen Khachanov
Juan Martin del Potro is another player in the fourth in the world rankings who is not exactly one of Thiem's favorite opponents. The defeat at the US Open 2017 after 2-0 set lead is still one of the most bitter in the career of the Austrian, who has never won in four matches against the Argentine. Last year's finalist should still have good chances on the slow clay court, even if del Potro already remembered his best times at the tournament in Rome in a match against world number one Novak Djokovic .
Dominic Thiem has already played against Karen Khachanov in Paris. Not at the French Open, however, but at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy. A little more than half a year ago, the Austrian lost to the eventual tournament winner in two sets in the only duel so far. A repeat of this coup would come as a big surprise, because the Russian is in a real deep form and has only won three games on ashes this season.
Semifinals: Novak Djokovic / Alexander Zverev
"Nadal is always the favorite on sand," said Dominic Thiem not only once. Therefore, the 25-year-old should not have been too sad about his potential semi-final opponent. Novak Djokovic might be the world's number one, but Thiem already proved in 2017 that he can beat the Serb in Roland Garros. At the ATP tournament in Madrid two weeks ago, however, the industry leader struck back and defeated the Lichtenwörther in two tiebreak sets .
Alexander Zverev is in the first crisis of his young career. The German is playing a bad clay court season and is trying his hand in Geneva this week to gain confidence for the second Grand Slam event of the year. A semi-final entry in Paris would be a big surprise. In 2018, Thiem easily defeated the 22-year-old, who was slightly battered at the time, in three sets in the quarterfinals.
Final: Rafael Nadal / Roger Federer
It is arguably one of the biggest challenges in sports to beat Rafael Nadal in a French Open final. Dominic Thiem also had to experience this last year: The Lower Austrian ultimately had no chance in the final. But the Austrian has proven that he can beat the 11-time winner of the French Open on his favorite surface sand - and this season could do what no one has done before with a triumph over the Spaniard: Nadal im Defeat Roland Garros Endgame.
Roger Federer also attempted this task - and failed four times. It would be a great surprise to reach the final in Paris this season, but the Swiss can always be trusted. Against Thiem the "Maestro" has already lost twice in the current season, overall Federer is 2: 4 behind the world ranking fourth in head to head. Federer has never won on sand against Thiem - even if he was close to winning in Madrid .